Classic Car Club of Ceylon Founders Rally draws record participation

Continuing its Silver Jubilee celebrations, The Classic Car Club of Ceylon (CCCC) successfully concluded its ‘Founders Rally’, an annual event dedicated to the memory of CCCC Founding President Mana Jayawardana.

Organised in partnership with Wurth Lanka, McFoil and Kingsbury Hotel, the event, which took place on 27 November, was comprised of a novel fun rally that commenced with an elegant collection of classic cars setting off from Race Course Carpark before winding their way across Colombo.

Each of the participants was presented with a series of directions and challenges which required them to navigate their way through the bustling city while identifying selected landmarks and other entertaining challenges along the route before concluding the rally at The Kingsbury Hotel 1½ hours later.  

Like the CCCC’s highly successful ‘Heritage Hill Climb’ event which took place in September 2016 to inaugurate the club’s 25th Anniversary, the Founders Rally drew strong and enthusiastic participation from members with over 56 timeless classic cars taking part, a record turnout for the event. 

In attendance as Chief Guest for the Founders Rally was CCCC Founding Committee member and drafter of the club’s constitution, Arjun Deraniyagala. Speaking at the event, Deraniyagala recalled his experience in forming the club together with Classic Car enthusiasts such as Mana Jayawardana, J.P. Obesekera, and Edward Mason. Other guests of honour in attendance were Asgi Akbarally and Kumar Paul Snr (Vice Patrons of the Club), Camillus Abeygunawardene, Honorary Life Member and Farih Fauz who initiated to Mana Jayawardena to form the Club 25 years ago.

The event concluded with a members get-together and brunch at The Kingsbury Hotel Colombo following which awards were presented to participants, including two new categories – Best Classic Saloon Cars and Best Classic Sports Cars for which 1st and 2nd runners up were also awarded trophies, before culminating in the awarding of the ‘Mana Jayawardana Memorial Challenge Trophy’ donated by Dinesh Jayawardana, son of the late Mana Jayawardana. 

The participation of all other members at the event was also recognised with the presenting of ‘Certifications of Participation’. The milestone event was further enhanced with the launch of the CCCC’s 25th year Club Calendar which was distributed to all members present at the event. 

Concluding the event, CCCC President, Ramani Ponnambalam thanked all of the club’s members for their participation before paying tribute to the late President Mana Jayawardana and Current Vice President Clive De Silva for their efforts and ground work which enabled the Classic Car Club of Ceylon to be affiliated to FIVA the governing body of Classic Cars. She further noted that it was a happy coincidence that the clubs 25th Anniversary happened coincide with the 50th Anniversary of FIVA. 

Also present were Minister  of  Finance and son-in-law of Mana Jayawardena, Ravi  Karunanayake, who  handed  over  the  ‘Mana  Jayawardana  Memorial  Trophy’ to  the  Overall  Winner before concluding with the presentation of trophies by the sons of Mana Jayawardana – Romesh and Dinesh.  

Winners of the Rally

Classic Sports Cars

Winner              –      Dilshan Gomez – Datsun 260Z 

1st Runner Up        –     Yevinda Amerasekara – Camaro

2nd Runner Up         –     Kishan Perera – Triumph TR3

Classic Saloon Cars

Winner             –     Shalike Ganewatte – Hilman Minx  

1st Runner UP         –     Milindu Mallawarachchi – Fiat 132

2nd Runner Up         –     Dinesh de Silva – Peugeot 403

Overall Winner of the Mana Jayawardana Memorial Trophy – Shalike Ganewatte

Fun Challenges

Closest to the Boogy Time    –     Senaka  Kotagama  

Winner of Fun Challenge     –     Dr. Prasad Nanayakkara

Best Lady Participant      –     Dilani Amendra

Best Parking Test – 1st     –     David Todd

Best Parking Test – 2nd    –     Nimal Wimalasuriya

Best Parking Test – 3rd     –     Ravi Ekanayake